Friday, September 20, 2013
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
Salsa!
About 12 years ago, when we first moved into our country home I explored how to make salsa using my Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook. We received the cookbook as a wedding present, and I was a terrible cook, so I was trying to learn.
I made a salsa recipe that stunned my husband, which is saying a lot. For some reason that year, we had quite a lot of tomatoes. I made the salsa, and he just couldn't stop saying how wonderful it was, which was like a balm for my tender wife soul, since we both knew I was a terrible cook. Finally I had gotten something right. I didn't even know how to boil water when I got married. What a loser!
Anyways, "the" salsa got shared and consumed left and right 12 years ago, and before we even knew it, all of the jars of salsa were gone. We've longed for that salsa for 12 years, remembering how delicious it was then.
This February I planted almost 300 tomato heirloom tomato seedlings, hoping for a tomato harvest so abundant I could put up spaghetti sauce, tomato paste, tomato juice, stewed tomatoes, etc. Well, as happens, all 300 seedlings didn't make it, but almost 200 did, and I spent the late winter and early spring months dreaming of tomatoes. We built awesome tomato trellises for them to grow up. I purchased tomato clips. We checked on them regularly. But lo and behold, as has happened to every other tomato grower this year (except 2 of that I know) we got bright green bushes and marvelous green tomatoes, that refused to ripen.
It probably had something to do with the fact that this summer's temps were about 20 degrees lower than normal. You know...global warming and all.
Anyways, the last several weeks have been in the high 80's and 90's and finally we've been getting some ripe tomatoes. So spaghetti sauce, tomato paste, tomato juice, and stewed tomatoes aside....we canned the one thing we absolutely can not live without this year, after longing for it for 12 years....salsa.
Here's our famous recipe....actually it's Better Homes and Gardens, but it's awesome.
Chunky Salsa
7 pounds tomatoes (about 20 medium; you'll end up with about 14 cups), peeled and coarsely chopped (I don't ever chop them. I just squeeze them through my fingers.)
10 Anaheim peppers, seeded and chopped (about 3 cups)
3 Jalapeno, serrano, thai, or cayenne (whatever you like for heat) peppers, seeded and chopped (we don't seed ours to get a little extra heat)
2 cups coarsely chopped onion
about 4-8 ears of sweet corn, cut off the cob
1/2 cup snipped fresh cilantro
1/2 cup vinegar
5 - 10 cloves of garlic, depending on your taste
1 TBSPN sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1. If you like chunky salsa you can drain the tomatoes for about 30 minutes. Reserve the juice and make bloody mary's out of it to drink while you're laboring over the hot stove. :-) If you like juicier salsa, don't drain the tomatoes.
2. Bring tomatoes to boiling on a pot on the stove. Simmer, uncovered, 45-50 minutes or till thick and chunky, stirring frequently.
3. Stir in chili peppers, onions, corn, cilantro, vinegar, garlic, sugar, salt and pepper. Return to boiling.
4. Remove from heat.
Other options: I usually add garlic salt and lemon or lime juice. We like ours with a little bit of a kick. I've also considered adding beans, but I've never tried that yet. I also accidentally burned the salsa while it was boiling once, and it was the best recipe ever. For that reason, I've considered charring/blackening the corn for a little extra flavor before putting it in, but I've never tried that yet.
P.S. This recipe makes 4 pints of salsa. I've never in my life made this recipe the normal way. I quintuple (at a minimum) it at least. Usually I get about 10 quarts when I make my recipe.
Process in a boiling water bath for 35 minutes to preserve. 1/2 inch headspace.
I made a salsa recipe that stunned my husband, which is saying a lot. For some reason that year, we had quite a lot of tomatoes. I made the salsa, and he just couldn't stop saying how wonderful it was, which was like a balm for my tender wife soul, since we both knew I was a terrible cook. Finally I had gotten something right. I didn't even know how to boil water when I got married. What a loser!
Anyways, "the" salsa got shared and consumed left and right 12 years ago, and before we even knew it, all of the jars of salsa were gone. We've longed for that salsa for 12 years, remembering how delicious it was then.
This February I planted almost 300 tomato heirloom tomato seedlings, hoping for a tomato harvest so abundant I could put up spaghetti sauce, tomato paste, tomato juice, stewed tomatoes, etc. Well, as happens, all 300 seedlings didn't make it, but almost 200 did, and I spent the late winter and early spring months dreaming of tomatoes. We built awesome tomato trellises for them to grow up. I purchased tomato clips. We checked on them regularly. But lo and behold, as has happened to every other tomato grower this year (except 2 of that I know) we got bright green bushes and marvelous green tomatoes, that refused to ripen.
It probably had something to do with the fact that this summer's temps were about 20 degrees lower than normal. You know...global warming and all.
Anyways, the last several weeks have been in the high 80's and 90's and finally we've been getting some ripe tomatoes. So spaghetti sauce, tomato paste, tomato juice, and stewed tomatoes aside....we canned the one thing we absolutely can not live without this year, after longing for it for 12 years....salsa.
Here's our famous recipe....actually it's Better Homes and Gardens, but it's awesome.
Chunky Salsa
7 pounds tomatoes (about 20 medium; you'll end up with about 14 cups), peeled and coarsely chopped (I don't ever chop them. I just squeeze them through my fingers.)
10 Anaheim peppers, seeded and chopped (about 3 cups)
3 Jalapeno, serrano, thai, or cayenne (whatever you like for heat) peppers, seeded and chopped (we don't seed ours to get a little extra heat)
2 cups coarsely chopped onion
about 4-8 ears of sweet corn, cut off the cob
1/2 cup snipped fresh cilantro
1/2 cup vinegar
5 - 10 cloves of garlic, depending on your taste
1 TBSPN sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1. If you like chunky salsa you can drain the tomatoes for about 30 minutes. Reserve the juice and make bloody mary's out of it to drink while you're laboring over the hot stove. :-) If you like juicier salsa, don't drain the tomatoes.
2. Bring tomatoes to boiling on a pot on the stove. Simmer, uncovered, 45-50 minutes or till thick and chunky, stirring frequently.
3. Stir in chili peppers, onions, corn, cilantro, vinegar, garlic, sugar, salt and pepper. Return to boiling.
4. Remove from heat.
Other options: I usually add garlic salt and lemon or lime juice. We like ours with a little bit of a kick. I've also considered adding beans, but I've never tried that yet. I also accidentally burned the salsa while it was boiling once, and it was the best recipe ever. For that reason, I've considered charring/blackening the corn for a little extra flavor before putting it in, but I've never tried that yet.
P.S. This recipe makes 4 pints of salsa. I've never in my life made this recipe the normal way. I quintuple (at a minimum) it at least. Usually I get about 10 quarts when I make my recipe.
Process in a boiling water bath for 35 minutes to preserve. 1/2 inch headspace.
Peeling Tomatoes
I found a new and better way to peel tomatoes recently. I've always used the boiling water method, but it's kind of a pain, because I always burn myself. I think it also makes the tomatoes really juicy while you're trying to work with them, which I don't like.
Just this week I learned that you can take the backside of a knife and scrape all over the surface of the tomato. Then when you cut the core of the tomato out the skin basically just falls off the tomato. You might have to give it a little tug or pull with the sharp side of your knife, but it was pretty easy. It took a little bit of time, but I really liked this method better.
Here are a couple other sites where you can see other methods for peeling tomatoes:
http://www.home-ec101.com/how-to-peel-tomatoes-2-easy-methods/
http://theshiksa.com/2012/04/18/how-to-peel-tomatoes/
Just this week I learned that you can take the backside of a knife and scrape all over the surface of the tomato. Then when you cut the core of the tomato out the skin basically just falls off the tomato. You might have to give it a little tug or pull with the sharp side of your knife, but it was pretty easy. It took a little bit of time, but I really liked this method better.
Here are a couple other sites where you can see other methods for peeling tomatoes:
http://www.home-ec101.com/how-to-peel-tomatoes-2-easy-methods/
http://theshiksa.com/2012/04/18/how-to-peel-tomatoes/
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